Colors of the Wind
by spidermanpls
Summary: No one knows much about Captain America's childhood. He doesn't talk about it and they don't ask. But then something happens that forces him to reveal parts of his past that he'd rather remain hidden, and the world's most powerful team of superheroes will never look at their leader the same way again.
1. Blank Slate

**Just a quick note, I'm not sure exactly when Cap received the serum or when he was born, but for the purpose of this story, he was born July 4, 1922, and received the serum sometime in 1942. Also, I don't own these characters and I'm making no money off of this. Please review!**

None of the Avengers knew all that much about Captain America's childhood. They knew he had been weak and scrawny before the serum (they'd all had a good laugh over the photos of him beforehand), they knew Bucky was his best friend and he'd do almost anything for the man, and they knew he was without a doubt the most moral person in last five centuries, but other than that, Steve's life before 1942 was a blank slate. No one was sure what his favorite color was, or why he never went anywhere without a collapsible walking stick in his pocket. He just never talked about his childhood, and none of them asked.

Until the accident.


	2. Super Soldier

It was 7:00 a.m. one morning in early October, and Captain America was out for his daily run. The air was crisp and clear, easy on Cap's lungs as his bright blue eyes roamed over the lush green landscape which was slowly turning to red and yellow. He arrived back at the Avenger's facility, but delayed going inside for a moment, simply letting his eyes wander over the peaceful countryside.

It was still early, so Steve didn't expect any of his teammates to be awake yet. Tony was sprawled over the couch in the living room, where he had crashed the late the night before or, more likely, early that morning. No one else was within sight, and Steve smiled to himself. He liked quiet mornings when he could simply relax and have some time to himself before a team of ravenous scientists and assassins descended upon the kitchen and all hell broke loose.

Surprisingly, out of the six assassins/mad scientists/super soldiers/gods that made up the Avengers, Steve Rogers was the only one who could cook a decent meal, or at least one that didn't involve a microwave. Accordingly, he was the appointed chef for basically all meals. But he didn't mind. It was a good way of making sure his teammates actually ate, and being the selfless leader he was, this was always very important to him. If left to their own devices, Tony and Bruce would probably forego eating in favor of their inventions and science experiments. Thor would most likely only eat ice cream and hamburgers, and goodness knows what Clint and Natasha would do. So Steve cooked, and all his teammates were better for it.

Steve was almost finished grilling a tower of pancakes, dyed the patriotic red, white, and blue to annoy the heck out of Tony, when a familiar scarlet-haired assassin jumped up onto the counter.

"Morning, Cap," Natasha said easily. Steve was one of the few people she felt she could be herself around.

"Good morning, Natasha," he smiled back, gently slapping her hand away from the bowl of freshly washed blueberries it was creeping towards. She put on a fake pout, and stole several as soon as his back was turned. Steve pretended not to notice.

"So how was your trip to Spain?" Natasha asked as she popped a few blueberries into her mouth. Steve shrugged.

"It was fine," he said. "You know I didn't have a chance to do much sight-seeing."

"Oh, that's too bad. Spain is gorgeous. You should go again sometime."

Steve smiled softly.

"Not for the same reason, hopefully. I don't know how many power-hungry mad scientists I can stand, especially once they start blowing up innocent people."

"Did I hear you talking about me again?" a voice came from the kitchen door, where Tony was lounging against the doorframe.

"Of course he was, Tony, because why would anyone ever talk about someone who's not you?" Natasha said sarcastically.

"Yeah, I actually didn't hear what you were talking about, I just always assume you guys are talking about me when I'm not there," Tony replied as he moved to pour a mug of the freshly made coffee. He motioned to the towering stack of pancakes and asked, "So Cap, are we gonna eat those star-spangled flap-jacks or what?"

"Dig in," Cap responded, placing the platter on the table beside the fresh bacon and sausage. Natasha and Tony needed no further urging, diving straight into the mound of deliciousness. A few moments later, they were joined by the blonde, six-foot Norse god, who looked like he could eat a horse, and Bruce and Clint followed soon after.

It was almost nine o'clock when Steve's old phone chirped, and the chaotic conversations quieted down a little bit. Steve looked at the message and frowned.

"Who is it?" Tony asked, his mouth full of pancakes.

"It's Fury," Steve replied. "He's got a mission for me." He sighed and stood up. "See you guys later," he waved. His friends looked at each other in silence as their leader and friend walked out and the door closed softly behind him.

"Okay, have you guys noticed how hard Steve has been working lately?" Bruce broke the silence.

"It's his job," Clint replied. "Besides, you know he's too nice to say no to anyone, especially Fury. That guy's a nightmare."

"And therein lies the problem," Natasha deadpanned.

"I must concur," Thor rumbled. "The good captain appears far too overworked for my liking. He is a great warrior, worthy of time to do with as he pleases."

"You're saying Cap needs a break?" Tony chimed in. "Please, he's a super soldier. Working too hard for shady government organizations is literally what he was made to do."

"Doesn't mean he shouldn't get some time off," Natasha stood and placed her dishes in the sink before turning to go to her room. The others followed her example, each heading off in their own direction.

"I'm telling you, Cap is absolutely fine," Tony called out after them.

 **Five hours later**

Tony's phone chirped. He glanced at it briefly, then stopped to read it slowly. A solid weight suddenly seemed to press down on his heart, and he sat down heavily. Bruce looked up questioningly from across the lab, and was greeted by a haunted look in Tony's carefree eyes.

"Cap is absolutely not fine," he said.


	3. A Situation

**Chapter Two**

It was around 6:00 in the evening before the Avengers received any further information about their friend. They spent over three hours standing around impatiently in the waiting room of a S.H.I.E.L.D. medical facility in Pennsylvania, and no one came to talk to them, to explain the situation, or to even give them a basic idea of what was going on. So of course, as people often do, they immediately assumed the worst, and as the time dragged on and there was still no information, their minds were drawn to more terrible scenarios.

Finally, at 6:04 p.m. (Tony was keeping track of the time), a weary-looking doctor emerged from one of the many doors.

"Mr. Stark?" he motioned for them to join him. The Avengers stood up quickly, pushing to hear what he had to say.

"How is he?" Was the first question out of all of their mouths. The doctor, whose name-tag read "Gao", sighed.

"To be completely honest, we're...not sure." He admitted.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Bruce asked politely. Doctor Gao seemed horrified that the Avengers, the saviors of the Earth, had been kept in the dark for so long, and quickly explained the situation.

"Captain Rogers was injured on a recent mission," he informed them. "Now, I don't know all the details, as the mission was classified, but I know that he was found alone, seriously hurt, and brought here as soon as possible."

"What exactly does 'seriously hurt' include?" Tony interrupted impatiently.

"Three broken ribs, a broken leg, a slight concussion, a sprained ankle, and a collapsed lung," the doctor replied.

Bruce took a calming breath. "But he's okay?"

"Well…" Doctor Gao hesitated. Immediately, the Avengers were on high alert, their expressions warning Gao to continue right away.

"Captain Rogers has not sustained any permanent physical damage. However, there is a…condition you should be aware of."

"Spit it out, Doc," Clint growled threateningly when he paused again.

"Through an unknown process, Captain Rogers has been transformed to a pre-serum state. Essentially, he has the body and mental faculties of a child."

"What does this mean?" Thor sounded worried.

"It means Cap is basically a kid," Tony replied hoarsely.


	4. An Even Worse Situation

**Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while. Been busy with school, boyfriend drama, etc. Anyway, here's a new chapter, and I hope you enjoy! Reviews are always welcome. Let me know if this is worth continuing.**

 **Chapter Three**

The room was silent for a full minute after this statement.

"I'm sorry, could you say that again?" Clint demanded.

"Captain. America. Is. A. Child." Tony enunciated. Clint gulped and leaned heavily against the wall, too shocked by this news to even get mad at Tony for acting like he was a baby.

"Can we see him?" Bruce asked. Doctor Gao was hesitant at first, but after a little persuasion from Natasha, in the form of glaring, he finally led them to Steve's room.

"He is asleep at the moment, so please try not to disturb him," Gao instructed, pausing for a brief moment in front of Steve's door. "If he does wake, please inform the nurse immediately." With these whispered instructions, Gao pushed open the door and allowed the Avengers to file in quietly.

Tony stopped short the instant he caught sight of the small, extremely fragile, underfed blonde child lying on the hospital bed. "Hey Doc, about how old would you say he is now?" He questioned delicately. Gao paused to make the calculations in his head before answering.

"Just looking at him, he appears to be about nine or ten years old, but from the information we have of his condition before the serum, in addition to new information gathered today, I would place him at approximately twelve, possibly thirteen."

"He' so…small," Thor observed. "I never imagined that Captain Rogers could become so childlike."

Bruce, ever the observant doctor, immediately noticed something weird. "Doctor, didn't you say before that he had been inured? Why are there no casts or bandages?"

"Ah, yes, another detail I forgot to mention," Gao cleared his throat hesitantly. "Captain Rogers was seriously hurt when he was found, but since that time, an unidentified chemical entered his system, causing him to… de-age, as it were, but in the process of transforming him into a child, the chemical also removed all his recent injuries, replacing them, it seems, with every physical condition he had at the time he was this age originally. Meaning, in short, he now suffers from asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, easy fatigability, blindness in both eyes, and much more. We are attempting-"

"Hold up, Cap is _blind?_ " Tony nearly shouted the last word, which would have earned him a glare from Natasha if she wasn't just as concerned as he was about this startling news.

"Yes, as I said, we-"

"But he was blind as a kid? This isn't, like, a side-effect of that chemical or some shit like that?" Clint interrupted Gao.

"It-"

"Is it permanent? Will the Captain recover or will he be forced to live out the rest of his days in darkness?"

"Is there any way to treat him for any of these conditions?"

"Will he have to learn everything over again? Is-"

"Guys!" Natasha yelled suddenly over the river of questions. "Calm the hell down and let the poor man speak." Bruce and Clint hung their heads slightly, mildly abashed at their rush of questions, while Thor and Tony waited eagerly for Gao's answer, not at all embarrassed. Natasha motioned for the doctor to continue his explanation, and he nodded his head at her in appreciation.

"As I was _trying_ to say, yes, Captain Rogers is blind in both eyes. Yes, it appears as though he was born with this condition, although there is no record anywhere indicating that it existed. We have no way of knowing whether or not this is permanent, but it seems as if it is. However, he was not blind when he applied multiple times for the army, nor when he received the Super-Soldier Serum. I do not know how it is that that is possible, but it's true. He did recover before, so there is a chance that he will do so again. Please visit as long as you like, but try not to disturb him, and remember, visiting hours end at eight o'clock. Good night." With a relieved sigh, Gao exited the room, leaving the five remaining Avengers alone with the smaller, sicklier version of the friend and leader.


	5. Middle of the Night

**I know this isn't the best I've written, but don't worry, more will be coming soon. Review!**

It was around two thirty in the morning. After about a half an hour of arguing with various doctors and nurses, all five Avengers had been given permission to stay at the hospital with Steve overnight. That was over six hours ago, and now they were all asleep in Steve's room, sprawled in random locations. Clint perched on the windowsill, somehow balancing there even in his sleep. Tony and Bruce shared the couch, their legs draped over each other's in a giant tangled mess, while Thor slouched on the floor, his back to the wall and his head on his hammer, using it as a pillow of sorts. Natasha had long ago claimed possession of the chair beside Steve's bed, where she would be the first to know if he woke up. All was peaceful.

At exactly 2:34 a.m., Steve's heart monitor began beeping at an extremely fast rate, and his breaths came in short and panicked bursts. Beads of sweat gathered on his forehead as he tossed and turned unhappily in the hospital bed, becoming tangled in all the wires attached to him. The rapid beeping roused Natasha right away, and she quickly called for a nurse, unsure how to calm him down.

Suddenly the room was full of activity, doctors and nurses rushing back and forth, checking his heart rate, blood pressure, and goodness knows what else. The frantic motion woke all the other Avengers, who tried, for once, to make themselves as small as possible and not get in the way.

"No! Please, stop!" A young voice called out. Steve was still thrashing back and forth on the hospital bed, calling out in a troubled voice as the doctors attempted to calm him down. Finally they were able to hold him still enough so that a doctor could stick a needle in his arm, releasing some kind of knock-out drug. Steve thrashed around a bit more, but within two minutes he was lying still again, breathing deeply and heavily. Natasha let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"What happened?" She asked Doctor Gao, who had been alerted of his patient's condition.

"We're still trying to work out the details, but it appears that Captain Rogers had a nightmare," Gao replied.

"Okay, Doc, I'm only going to ask this once." Tony said moodily, rubbing his temples as if massaging an awful headache. "Will you _please_ , for the sake of everything you love, explain everything you mean by that statement. No more mystery, no more guessing. Talk. Now."

Gao cleared his throat, a bit nervously. "Ahem, yes. Well, it seems that the state Captain Rogers is in has taken a great toll on his mental and physical health. He is, essentially, exhausted by the transformation, so I would not expect him to wake for at least a few more days. That being said, he is still dreaming, most likely about things in his life that happened from his perspective not very long ago. He cannot wake up yet, but he will need to be monitored every day until he does. I would recommend that each of you, being his friends, should take turns staying with him until he wakes up."

About three hours after Doctor Gao explained Steve's condition, the Avengers finally agreed that they probably should not all remain at the hospital, as it would become extremely crowded and inconvenient for the nurses coming to check on him every hour. About an hour and a half after that, they finally decided that each of them would have a shift of around six hours, starting with Natasha taking her shift first. As soon as Natasha heard this, she wordlessly kicked everyone else out, leaving them to fight out who got to go next.


	6. I Confess

**Another update! Stay tuned for more in the near future.**

"Hey Steve," Natasha said quietly. The room was empty except for her and the small child lying unconscious in the bed, wires hooked up to him everywhere. The usually icy and emotionless assassin took Steve's tiny, frail hand in her own, marveling at how small the man she knew had been as a child, and now was again.

"I wish you hadn't gone on that mission," she said suddenly. "I wish you would learn that you don't always have to be a hero. It's okay to let people down sometimes, to let them see that you're human. Because you are. You may be the sweetest, bravest, most selfless guy I've ever met, but you're human. You're not invincible, and I wish you would stop acting like you are, because you can get hurt so easily. This is just proof of that. Proof that you won't always be able to stand up to the bad guys, that you won't always be able to beat them. You may be more than ninety years old, but you only lived like twenty years of that. You're still a kid, even when you're not literally a kid like right now. You're going to get hurt someday, and no one will be able to fix it, and you'll die, and I'll-we'll all be left here to deal with it."

She stopped talking, but the room remained as silent as before, only broken by the intermittent beeping of Steve's heart monitor.

"I miss you, Steve," she whispered. "It hasn't even been a day since you were changed, but I miss you so much." She sighed and rested her head on the bed next to him. "I never told you, or anyone else, and I didn't even want to let myself feel it, but you're like a little brother to me. I don't know what I'll do if they can't change you back." Lulled by the soft beating of his heart, Natasha slipped into a light sleep.

"Natasha. Psst, Natasha!" A voice whispered, breaking into the assassin's dreams. She blinked sleepily, stretching out her shoulder that had been stuck in a weird position. Bruce was standing in front of her, gently trying to wake her. He smiled when he saw her confused green eyes staring up at him.

"Hey, Bruce," she whispered back, standing up to stretch her legs. "What are you doing here? My shift-"

"Has been over for about three hours," Bruce finished. "I didn't want to wake you before, but the nurses need to take Steve and check him out."

"What? Why? Is something wrong?" Natasha immediately returned to Steve's side, scanning the monitors for anything out of the ordinary.

"No, no, he's fine. I mean, apart from the obvious." They both smiled a little at that, but Bruce's eyes lingered on Natasha.

"Are _you_ okay?" he asked. She stared at him like he was crazy.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered. "Why wouldn't I be?" Bruce shrugged.

"Maybe the fact that you seem really jumpy right now, or that you fell asleep on Steve's bed-"

"Okay, technically, only my head was on there."

"-or that you're holding his hand." Natasha froze and looked down. It was true; her hand was wrapped around Steve's tiny little hand, which also happened to be squeezing hers back. She quickly let go, and stepped away from him.

"This does not leave this room, do you understand me, Banner? Not a word."

"Understood." Bruce smiled, preparing to dodge a punch. "But you two did look cute like that."


	7. The Awakening

**Sorry it took so long to update, school has been so busy! Paper after paper after paper, it's awful. Anyway, enjoy and review!**

The call came at just after four-thirty in the afternoon two weeks after Steve was changed by the accident. Tony was in his lab back at the Avengers' compound, working on one of those new projects that none of his teammates liked because they tended to explode.

He answered the phone halfway through the first ring, trying but failing epically to mask his eagerness to news about Steve. "How is he?" were the first words out of his mouth.

"You should get over here," Natasha answered with a stifled laugh at Tony's eagerness. "He just woke up."

Tony walked into the hospital room exactly four minutes and twelve seconds later, a quarter of the time that it should have taken him to arrive. Natasha looked at him suspiciously.

"Use your suit?" she asked.

"Please, like I care that much about Mr. Young America." Tony avoided looking directly into Natasha's eyes as he answered. "Traffic was light."

"Uh huh," she replied. "So no Iron Man suit was involved?"

"Shut the hell up," Tony snapped. "What's up with Steve-o?"

"He woke up about half an hour ago," Bruce answered, coming up behind them. "The doctors won't let anyone see him until they're finished checking him out."

"And exactly how long is that gonna take?" Tony fumed.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Stark, I think they're almost done," Clint quipped as he peered through the window in Steve's door.

The door opened and Doctor Gao exited, obviously mentally preparing himself to face the Avengers. "Good afternoon," he said dryly.

"Skip the small talk," Tony ordered. "What's going on with Steve?"

"Captain Rogers woke from his coma about half an hour ago, understandably very confused," Gao began. "He was a little scared, but we managed to calm him down and check out his vitals. Everything appears to be normal, but please remember that his body is currently extremely fragile, and he can only recall about the first fifteen years of his life. He will need to be treated with caution in every regard."

"What about his eyes?" Bruce questioned. "Is he still blind?"

"I'm afraid so, and the blindness seems to be permanent. That is just another one of the things you will have to be wary of."

"Wait, wait, slow down, cowboy," Tony interrupted. "You're making it sound an awful lot like we're going to be taking care of him."

"I'm apologize, Mr. Stark, I just assumed that the Avengers would want to take care of their own. There really aren't very many other options as to where he can stay."

"Don't worry, Doctor," Natasha chimed in. "We'll be happy to take care of Steve. He can stay at the compound with us."

"Oh goodie, a small, weak, immature teenager messing up the compound and eating us out of house and home!" Tony said sarcastically.

"You're a billionaire, Stark, I'm pretty sure you can handle a teen."

"I wouldn't count on it."

"Man of Healing, may we visit Captain Rogers now?" Thor interrupted. The rest of them jumped, not having heard the god of thunder come up behind them.

"One thing you need to know first," Gao said, "we told Mr. Rogers that he was in an accident which may have caused some short-term memory loss."

"What about his parents?" Asked Natasha.

"We… haven't told him anything about his parents yet. We're still trying to find something that can tell us anything at all about his life at this age. There are very few records of Steve Rogers before he began applying for the army. Just try to steer clear of the whole family idea for the moment." Having given these instructions, Gao pushed the door open and ushered the Avengers inside.

Despite all of the weird things each of the Avengers had encountered in their life times, this experience single-handedly beat every other weird piece of crap.

Steven Grant Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed with his skinny legs hanging just above the floor. He sat up straight, like a perfect little schoolboy, and though he had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, he was shivering terribly, staring straight ahead with pale unseeing eyes. The Avengers stopped short at the sight, each one too shocked to say anything. Gao sighed and took the lead.

"Steve?" He said gently. "It's Doctor Gao again."

"Hello, Doctor," Steve responded politely.

"I have some people here who want to talk to you."

"Who are they?" Steve asked, and even those in the room who were not highly trained assassins could hear the slight tremble of uncertainty, possibly even fear, in the child's voice.

"Some friends," Gao replied. "Remember, you were in an accident. These people are here to take care of you." Steve didn't say anything, but as he did not object to meeting them, Gao decided to begin introductions.

"Steve, these are your new caretakers, Dr. Bruce Banner…" Bruce stepped forward and tenderly shook Steve's hand, "…Thor Odinson…" The god of thunder, though he tried to be gentle, gave Steve's hand quite a hard squeeze, "… Clint Barton…" the archer gently patted him on the back, "…Natasha Romanoff…" the normally cold assassin stepped forward and gave him a warm maternal hug, unlike anything any of them had seen from her before, "…and Tony Stark. " After a nudge from Bruce and a glare from Nat, Tony gingerly shook one of Steve's fingers with two of his own.

"It's nice to meet all of you," Steve said politely.

"Alright, if you'll excuse me, I have to go take care of some other patients, but don't worry Steve, you're in good hands." Gao moved toward the door.

"Yes sir. Thanks you sir, for everything."


	8. Questions

**Another chapter, yay! Please review.**

After Gao left, no one said anything for several minutes. Finally, Tony broke the silence.

"So Steve, where do you live?"

Steve looked strangely startled at this simple question, and answered haltingly, "Oh, um, I live in Brooklyn."

"Brooklyn, that's nice." Stark continued. "Where exactly in Brooklyn?"

"Um…"

Seeing how uncomfortable Steve looked, Natasha stepped in. "It's okay, Steve, you don't have to answer if you don't want to." A clearly relieved look appeared on his young face, only to disappear three seconds later when Thor asked, "Young Steven, how did your eyes become impaired?"

Nat jabbed Thor with her elbow. "You don't have to answer that one either, Steve."

"No, it's okay," he said. "My mother got really sick while she pregnant with me, and I was born prematurely. There were a lot of complications, and even more consequences. Long story short, I ended up blind with about forty other medical problems." The room fell silent once more.

"Ms. Romanoff? Do you know where my friend Bucky is?" Steve asked timidly.

"Um, Bucky is…not here at the moment," Nat stammered, unsure of what to tell him, since Steve still didn't know that he was no longer in 1937. Using frantic eye signals, she asked the others what they were supposed to do. They shrugged like typical clueless men, all except Bruce.

"Bucky is in school," he said. "He won't be able to come for a while."

"Oh. Did he get in trouble again? I wish he would stop trying to fight those guys, I can take them on my own."

"What guys? Bullies?" Tony asked, suddenly very interested.

"No, it doesn't matter, it's fine." Steve said quickly.

"Steven Grant Rogers, are you getting picked on?" Tony asked incredulously.

"It's nothing, sir, I can handle it."

"Damn, you're polite." Clint exclaimed. "I don't think anyone's ever called Tony 'sir' before."

"Hey, feathers, you're forgetting Jarvis. Jarvis calls me sir all the time."

"Yeah, because you programmed him to, not because he likes you."

"Oh, you want to get it on, birdbrain? It is on! You-"

"Guys!" Natasha yelled. "Will you please shut up! There's only one child in the room and he's ten times more mature than both of you."

"Come on, Nat, he's America's star-spangled golden boy, of course he's mature," Tony complained.

"You know what, Tony, why don't we take a walk, maybe see about getting Steve released, okay?" Bruce suggested. "Clint, Thor, maybe you guys should come too, maybe give Steve a little time to get adjusted." Bruce practically pushed the three men out the door, all of them complaining about wanting to stay. Nat silently thanked Bruce, and closed the door after them.

"I'm sorry about that," she said as she sat down on the bed beside him. "They can get a little crazy sometimes."

"Yes, ma'am," Steve replied. "But I think I like them anyway."

"You don't have to call me ma'am, Steve. Natasha or Nat is fine."

"Are… are you sure, ma'am?" he asked timidly. "I don't want to be disrespectful."

"It's not disrespectful." After a few minutes of friendly silence, Natasha asked, "Do you want to change out of that hospital gown? I'm fairly positive one of the nurses left some clothes in here that should fit you." Nat began looking through the cupboards. "They should be here somewhere… aha! Success." She pulled out a set of clothes and laid them in Steve's outstretched hands, then moved to cover the window in the door to give him some privacy.

"Um, Ms. Romanoff, can you… help me?" The last part came out as an embarrassed whisper as Steve's whole face turned bright red.

"Oh, sure, I guess."

Less than ten minutes later, Steve was much more comfortable in jeans, a T-shirt, and a pair of star-spangled high tops. Natasha looked at her phone.

"It's past five thirty," she said, quickly dialing Tony's number. "I wonder where the boys are."

Tony answered after the fifth ring. "Hey, Nat, what's up?"

"Where are you guys? You've been gone more than half an hour."

"Yeah, well, we were all a little curious about Cap's life at this point, so we're digging through some old S.H.I.E.L.D. files to see what we can find."

"Okay, did you at least check with the hospital to get Steve released before you left?"

"…No." Natasha groaned.

"Just once, I wish you could do things right," she said. "I'm going to get Steve out of here, and we'll be back at the compound in twenty minutes. All of you had better be there."

"Yeah, okay, fine, whatever. Hey guys, I think I found something!" Tony called to the other Avengers on the other side of the phone.

"Stark! Are you listening to me?" Nat just about lost her patience at this point.

"Yes, be back at the compound in fifteen minutes, I got it. Bye Nat!" Tony hung up.

Natasha took a calming breath. "Okay," she said, "let's see about getting you out of here."


	9. Scared

**Yay, finally another chapter!**

Though he couldn't see what was happening around him, Steve knew something wasn't right. The hospital didn't sound the same as all the other times he had been admitted there, which had been a lot. Even the air inside the hospital didn't feel the same, and the kind of words the doctors used just felt…weird. Steve was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital while Natasha argued with some doctor about letting him leave. That was something else that felt weird. Who was Natasha? Who were all the other people? Why were they there instead of Bucky? And why did he feel like he could trust them all, especially Natasha, no matter what?

A hand touched him lightly on the shoulder.

"Steve?"

Natasha.

"Come on, let's get you out of here."

Natasha gently took Steve's hand in her own, and lead him out into the world. Steve couldn't see the sun, of course, but he could feel its warmth on his face. The light breeze was chilly, and the overall feel of the air felt like mid-October. But that couldn't be right, Steve thought with a frown. Last he could remember, it had been late May. He and Bucky were excited that school was finally going to end for the summer. Of course, the doctor had said he had experienced some short-term memory loss. But still, something didn't seem right.

"Miss Natasha?" He asked timidly.

"Just Natasha, Steve," she reminded him. "Or Nat, whichever you prefer."

"Um…yes ma'am," Steve said. He had no intention of ever calling her either of those names. It just seemed disrespectful. "What day is it?"

"October 17," she replied. She was an expert, but Steve had been reading voices instead of expressions his entire life. Her voice sounded a little too cheerful, and just the slightest bit tense. There was something she wasn't telling him.

Before long, they were stopping again, and Natasha gently guided Steve into a car. It was warm inside, but not stuffy, and the seat felt unusually comfortable. The door closed beside him, and for a brief moment, everything was silent. Then a door across the car opened and Natasha got inside and started driving. The ride was smooth and silent, so Steve almost couldn't tell whether or not they were moving.

He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, he was being lifted from the car by a pair of very strong, extremely muscular arms. He struggled a little against the person holding him, but the grip only tightened slightly.

"Patience, young Steven," a deep voice said softly. "You are weary. Allow me to aid you."

This was one of the men who had visited him in the hospital. The one with the really strong handshake. Thor, or something like that.

"Where are we?" Steve asked, stifling a yawn.

"We're at the Avengers' compound," Natasha said from somewhere ahead. "You're going to stay here until we can contact your mother."

His mother? Steve stiffened instinctively. Now he definitely knew something wasn't right. Sarah Rogers was dead. She died two years ago, and Steve had been living with Bucky ever since. Being more than a year older and almost a foot taller, Bucky had always felt protective of Steve, something both boys knew. They took care of each other, always, but now Steve was alone with a bunch of people he didn't really know, people who lied to him and said his mother was going to pick him up. People who had barely spoken two words about Bucky. They were lying about something.

"I can walk," Steve said, struggling to get away from Thor's strong grasp. The Asgardian looked at Natasha for guidance, and she nodded, allowing him to put the small version of their friend down. Natasha walked back and gently took his hand.

"Come one, Steve," she said. "Let's go inside. It's warmer in there."

"No," Steve said, much more bravely that he felt. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I need to go back to the hospital."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think I can trust you."

"Why not?" Natasha's tone was quiet and calm, like she was trying to understand the reasoning behind his refusal to comply. Of course, she had expected this. She just wished she didn't have to.

"I've never met any of you, and Bucky's not here, and you're lying about the date, and you don't know anything about my life!" Steve burst out. His normally pale face became flushed from exertion, and he let out a wheezing cough. Instantly, Natasha was at his side, hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down.

"Steve, honey, I need you to breathe, okay?" She said calmly. "You're having asthmatic attack. We have an inhaler inside, okay? Come on, let's go get it."

Steve shook his head stubbornly, and spoke around his rasping coughs and wheezing breaths. "No," he said. "No, you're lying. Please, just let me go back to the hospital. Let me see Bucky, I want Bucky!"

Tears flowed freely from his pale, unseeing eyes. Natasha pulled him into a hug, pressing his head against her chest as she made soothing noises to calm him down.

"Shhh, Steve, listen to me," she said. "Listen to my heart beat, okay? I promise, we are not going to hurt you. We love you, and we want to take care of you. You are safe with us."

Steve didn't speak, but his crying and wheezing began to subside.

"Listen to my heart, Steve," Natasha continued, ignoring the four men who were now standing nearby with worried looks on their faces, and instead focusing completely on the younger, terrified version of the man who was closest to family for her that she would ever find.

"Listen to my heart, and you'll know that I'm not lying. I'm telling the truth, Steve. You're safe. We love you, and we will take care of you."

Several hours later, Natasha walked softly into the large living area of the Avengers compound. Tony, Thor, Bruce, and Clint had all been lounging on couches and chairs, but sat up, alert and worried, the moment she entered.

"He's asleep," she said softly, collapsing in exhaustion on the nearest piece of furniture.

"How is he?" Bruce asked for all of them.

"Scared," she replied. "And with good reason. His entire world was just turned upside-down."

"Has he asked about Bucky anymore?"

"Yeah," Natasha sighed. "I didn't know what to tell him."

There was a moment of silence.

"What about his family?" Tony asked. "His parents, any siblings, …"

"Dead," Nat wearily ran a hand through her hair. "He talked for about an hour about his life. I don't know what I was expecting, but everything he told me…" she trailed off and stared into space as her mind went back to everything Steve had said about his family. About how his dad left when he was six, and how because of that and all Steve's medical problems, his mom had to work three jobs to pay for food to put on their table, and how after she died, all he had left was Bucky.

Bucky, who fought off bullies and let himself get beaten up so that Steve would be safe, who voluntarily slept on the floor in their little shack so that Steve could have the bed, who patiently sat up through long nights to help Steve breathe more easily when he had an asthma attack. Natasha had never realized just how important Bucky was to Steve.

She sighed. The world was so messed up, splitting apart two people like Steve and Bucky, who were so good. It just wasn't fair.


End file.
